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Text Appearing Before Image:s.The large town of Birijik was now full in view, and theprospect thereof was the most picturesque we had seenin Mesopotamia. The toil of the journey was relievedby the pleasant approach to the city through extensivegraperies, and fig and apricot orchards. On either sideof the road, the clear water flowed rapidly in its descentto the Euphrates, In the rocks are large caves wheretravelers repose during the night, and in the quarriesnatives were at work dressing the soft stone for l)uild-ing purposes. Passing through the crowded bazaar, we BABYLON AND NINEVEH. 439 reached the ferry with difficulty. Large quantities ofgrain in sacks were there to be ferried over the river,and an immense throng of people were waiting to cross.We applied to the authorities for permission to cross,but, after a tedious delay of an hour, we were informedthat we must wait till morning. This was a disappoint-ment, as we preferred tenting on the green banks beyondto remaining in a Turkish town. We dispatched our

Text Appearing After Image:TOWN OF BIRIJIK. servant to the pasha, Imt that placid dignitary consoledus by affirming that there would be less water in theriver in the morning, and that it would then be muchsafer crossing. This polite reply w\as to cover his pur-pose to detain us till the morrow. Reluctantly we re-turned through the narrow, crowded streets, and stoppedfor the nio:ht in a laro-e khan, wdiere all manner of ani-mals had their abode. In the light of the setting sun, and in the light of 4-40 THRONES AND PALACES OF the full moon, we viewed with delight the terracedstreets, the embattled towers, the dome and minaret ofmany a mosque, and the white dwellings, rising in tiersto the summit of the bluffs, which combine to make Biri-jik the most picturesque town on the banks of the Eu-phrates. It is, no doubt, the Birtha of antiquity, andnear it has been a ferry across the Upper Euphrates, be-tween Syria and Mesopotamia, from the days of the pa-triarchs to the present time. The town is built uponthree white c

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